Watch Me Disappear
by FireRide
Summary: While on a cruise set up by the CSM, Max and the flock try to have a good time. The CSM says that everything that they have been doing was in the flock's best interest. All are fooled; all except Max. Full summary in story. Rated T because I'm paranoid.
1. Chapter 1

Summary: While on a cruise set up by the CSM, Max and the flock try to have a good time. The CSM says that everything that they have been doing was in the flock's best interest. All are fooled; all except Max. As their vacation prolongs, Max becomes more and more uneasy about the situation they are placed in and the flock comes to realize that nothing is how it seems to be. It was all just an illusion.

Disclaimer- I do not own Maximum Ride. James Patterson does.

Claimer- I own this plot and any new characters that may come into play.

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-Chapter one-

"A cruise?" I asked, unable to believe what I was hearing. "You have to be kidding me!" There was absolutely no way that I was going on another boat after everything that had happened over the last few months. I could barely walk on land without falling on my face, let alone trying to walk on a constantly rocking boat.

"Come on, Max!" My mother said; a grin plastered to her face. I noticed the soft folds appearing in her skin. She looked older, much older. Her smooth complexion was no more; all that remained were the small bags beneath her eyes. I told her not to hang around Jeb and that he could bore you to death but did she listen? No. "It'll be fun! Don't worry, sweetie." She pulled me into a small, one-armed hug and I shook my head.

"No, mom, I have to worry. That is my job. I really don't think this is safe for the flock." I said, getting frustrated. She may know what it feels like to love kids as your own, but she knew nothing about how it felt to be me. Only fourteen years-old with five other kids depending on you for survival. If I didn't make the executive decisions, we could be put into life or death situations. Situations that required quick decisions that only I could make. The ones I'm famous for. The ones that will either get us killed of save our butts. Hopefully the latter if the two. I needed to keep them safe. I needed to protect them and this cruise was not the way to do it.

"You know it'll be fun and you'll have all of us on board with you." Dr. Brigid Dwyer (a.k.a. Dr. Amazing) said, gesturing around her at the line of CSM members standing across the room. Great, all I needed. Dr. Amazing encouraging me to go on that deathtrap some dare to call a boat.

"No." I said firmly, finally putting my foot down. "It's not a good idea. I'm sure of it." I glanced between Brigid and my mother, seeing them both roll their eyes in annoyance. I crossed my arms over my chest and set myself, knowing his wouldn't go over easily.

"Fine," My mom said, waving her hand at something behind her. "We'll just have to bring in reinforcement." I felt confusion mask my face as Nudge and Angel trudged into the room, determined expressions displayed on their faces. Oh man, I was in for it. "We took the liberty of telling Angel and Nudge about the cruise last night, knowing that you would be difficult. They're very excited for it." mom explained, placing one of her hands on each of their shoulders.

"Max!" Angel said, well, angelically. "Please, pretty please with sprinkles, no, cookies on top can we go on the cruise!" she exclaimed, clasping her hands together and holding them out in front of her. She gave me a pleading grin, showing off the small gap where she had lost one of her front teeth.

"Yeah!" Nudge screamed from beside her. I saw Angel flinch from the volume of her voice. Nudge looked around nervously and started talking again. "Please! I really want to go on the cruise! It would be so cool! We could finally relax and lay on the deck and get a tan, well, you could get a tan. I think I'm too dark already." she noted, inspecting her arms closely.

"No." I repeated again, feeling confident in my decision. "I'm sorry guys, but I can't wrap my mind around doing this. It's just something bad waiting to happen."

Angel pouted as Nudge opened her eyes wide (to about the size of dinner plates), jutting out her bottom lip. "I guess we'll have to use out secret weapon." Angel said sweetly in my mind. I knew what she was talking about. I was dreading it. Bambi eyes.

As if on cue, they both looked up at me through sparkling eyes. I tried to keep a straight face as long as I could but it seemed impossible. I felt my heart melt as I took in their faces, so sweet and innocent (even though I was sure they were thinking devious, demonic thoughts).

"You know you're going to lose this argument, right?" a deep voice said from behind me. I whipped my head around and saw Fang standing there, hands in his pockets. His dark hair flopped over his eyes and he ran a hand through it. I smirked and nodded.

"It's inevitable." I mumbled under my breath. "Fine!" I said, turning back over to Nudge and Angel. "We'll go on the stupid cruise; but if I see one thing I don't like, we're leaving." I struggled to raise my voice over their constant cheers.

I glanced around, looking for the rest of my flock. I had Angel and Nudge standing in front of me, jumping up and down in anticipation; screaming gaily. Fang was standing close behind me, his dark brown eyes following my every move. That leaved Iggy and the Gasman. They were nowhere to be found; and we all know Iggy + the Gasman + no adult supervision = trouble with a capital T.

I spun around, hectically looking for the last two flock members, not seeing them anywhere. "Fang?" I asked, not bothering looking at him. I knew he was listening. "Where are Iggy and the Gasman!?" I spun in circles, unable to find them anywhere. I looked up at Fang, who was about to say something but I felt my eardrums explode before he could get a single word out.

I felt strong hands pull me to the ground as a mushroom cloud erupted from the room next door. I looked through blurry eyes, seeing dust and silt swirling around the room. Once I was sure that the room was safe enough I looked around seeing doctors in white coats sprawled out across the floor. My mom had Nudge and Angel pinned down beneath her arms as she bound herself to the floor. Brigid was sitting up, fussing over her hair which, honestly, looked like a bird made a nest in it.

I finally looked up, realizing something. I was pinned down to the floor. I looked straight ahead of me and received a very good view of Fang, lying on top of me, hands on either side of my head, knees straddling my waist. I stared into his deep, abysmal, brown eyes and felt a blush creep up my cheeks.

"Thanks." I whispered, my eyes never leaving his. I saw a smile play on his lips as he, much to my distaste, rolled off of me. Although I would never admit it to anyone, I needed him in much more of a way than is perceived.

I sighed and sat up, looking over at the door. I caught glimpses of doctors and scientists checking their equipment; making sure nothing was too damaged. I saw a man in a khaki uniform walk into the doorframe, holding two boys up by their collars. Iggy and Gazzy.

"I found these two in the weaponry." khaki-man said, sliding his thumbs across the upper rims of their shirts. "If I were you, I'd keep them on a short leash."

Iggy looked over at me, focusing his unseeing eyes about two inches above my left eyebrow (how he got so close, I do not know). He smiled sheepishly at me and the Gasman followed his lead, folding his hands behind his back, twisting slightly. They were in so, so much trouble.

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Please review and tell me if you like it...


	2. Chapter 2

-Chapter two-

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"I can't believe I'm doing this." I muttered as I shoved a pair of wrinkled jeans into my forest green suitcase. "This is absolutely crazy!"

"Talking to yourself again?" a deep voice said and I jumped. I turned and saw Fang standing behind me, looking over my shoulder at the articles of clothing thrown sloppily across my bed.

You see, ever since we saved my mom from Mr. Chu and his oh-so optimistic band of M-Geeks, we hunkered down at an old military base. Since it was no longer in use (other than some research and offices) and only select people could get in, we were safe here. We all had our own rooms and we had tutors teaching us everything we'd ever need to know, but my favorite part; wide open spaces for midnight flights.

We had been living here for about six months and, amazingly, we absolutely loved it. We had connections all over the world; we had the army protecting us; and even my mom and Ella could stay with us. There was only one downside. Jeb.

Although he, and many others, thought that I should trust him, I couldn't. I was unable to let my mind get past the 'traitor' part of his actions. Nothing, I repeat, NOTHING could get me to do anything for (or with) him again. Every night I closed my eyes, hoping that I would wake up and he would disappear but, to my great dissatisfaction, he came in every morning at seven-thirty sharp, pulling me out of bed and dragging me to the mess hall for breakfast (even though I had a mini-fridge and microwave in my room, he claims that I need the 'social interaction').

"Possibly," I said, turning to face Fang. "What's it to 'ya?"

He smirked and stepped around me, plopping down softly onto my bed. I sighed and ran my fingers through my hair. I moved the suitcase to the side and sat down, dropping my head onto Fang's lap. I looked up at him through tired eyes and felt the corners of my lips twitch up as he gently stroked my hair off of my face.

"Am I just crazy?" I asked quietly. He gave me a quizzical look and I sighed, continuing. "I mean, am I the only one who is paranoid about this whole boat trip? I feel as if I'm alone in this."

He shook his head as his fingers gently brushed my cheek. "Relax, Max." he commanded. As soon as he said it, I let my muscles loosen but they tightened up five seconds later. "You're not relaxing." he noted, massaging my shoulders. I felt his fingers mold against my skin as they worked into my collar bone.

"It's a little harder than you'd think." I said frowning. "I can't just relax and pretend that everything is going to be okay." I groaned and sat up, turning around to look up at Fang. He sighed and put his hands on either side of my cheeks, pulling my head up.

"You're really beating yourself over this." he noted, probably seeing my bloodshot eyes and astray hair. I felt his thumbs gently move against my skin and I felt my whole body heat up.

"Fang," I said, sighing. He really didn't understand how I was feeling. He really couldn't understand how I was feeling. It was a gut feeling; one that couldn't be helped; one that had been haunting me for the time being. "Fang, it's not safe. I know it."

He shook his head. "It'll be okay. Don't worry."

"Yeah," I muttered, rolling my eyes. "That's what everyone is saying."

"Well, you shouldn't. You have us to handle everything." he said reassuringly. "And you know, after everything we've been through, that we can handle anything anyone throws at us."

I took a deep breath, unable to believe what I was doing. I was really giving in. "Yeah, I know." I muttered, looking away from Fang. I hated when he was right but I hated being wrong more. I watched as he stood up, stretching out his legs.

"Goodnight, Max." He whispered as he bent down. He gently moved my hair off of my forehead and kissed me lightly. I watched has he turned on his heel and walked out of my room. I groaned and closed my eyes, falling backwards onto my bed. Time for my next task. Surviving two weeks on a ship.

There we were, me and it, staring each other down. I knew it would win. I knew I had to go although I didn't want to. I was going to try as hard as I could to make this enjoyable but I made no promises.

I inhaled deeply, smelling the salty water. I looked around and saw people all around me, bustling around the dock. I sighed and took a step forward, feeling my stomach plunge as soon as my feet left dry land. I continued walking up the steep metal ramp until the old blue paint on the metal turned into the sleek, polished wood floor of the cruise ship.

I slung my duffel bag over my shoulder and walked down the side of the ship, past some older couples waving goodbye to their families for two weeks, over to where the flock was sitting around a table on the open deck. Even though this cruise was set up by the CSM, some 'normal' people were allowed on with us if they had the right connections. I dropped my bag down next to the last open chair and plopped down, putting my head in my hands.

I glanced up at the flock who were all chatting away. Nudge, Angel, and the Gasman were talking about some cartoon movie they had seen the night before. They had stayed up way past their bedtime. I swear, sometimes they just do this kind if stuff to annoy me.

Iggy had his eyes closed, his forehead against the table. His cheeks were a dull red and it looked as though he was about to throw up. It looked like I wasn't the only one who didn't like boats.

Fang was looking at me, curiosity hidden deep in his eyes. I felt my stomach flip as the fog horn went off, signaling it was time to leave. I think I even heard myself whimper. Fang held out his hand to me, offering me his water. I swiped it out of his hands, bringing it up to my lips. I felt the cool rush of the liquid slide easily down my parched throat. I took a long swig out of the bottle, drinking more than half. I lowered it from my lips and handed it back to Fang.

"Geez, Max." he said, looking from the bottle to me. "You really hate boats." he said, pointing out the obvious. I rolled my eyes and stood up, picking up my duffel.

"I'm going to go find my cabin." I said, looking from one flock member to another. I got a couple nods and one or two 'kay's.

"I'll come with you." Iggy said, pulling his head off of the table and standing up. He swiped his bag off the back of the chair and quickly maneuvered himself around Fang's chair and over to me. We started to walk down the side of the ship. I tried to avoid looking at the waves surging past us in the water.

"Hate the boat?" I asked Iggy, already knowing the answer.

"I don't think hate is the word." he answered bitterly, his tedious eyes going haywire. "More like despise. Detest." I heard him sigh and I frowned. I knew Iggy didn't like boats but I didn't know it was this bad.

"Why, though?" I asked. I had never found out why he 'detested' boats.

"It's like I'm losing my hearing too." he said, looking up at me. "When I try and listen to something I would be able to hear on land like footsteps, I can't hear them. All I can hear is water. Nothing else." I looked up at him, sympathy showing in my eyes.

"I'm sorry." I muttered realizing how bad he must really have it.

"It's okay." he said. I grabbed his arm and pulled him to our left, down a hallway leading to the indoor rooms. He groaned and hung his head. "Max?" he asked, looking at me. I couldn't respond. "Can you be my eyes? Just for the next few weeks. I need a way to see since I lost my last ability to."

"Sure, Ig." I said, stopping dead, looking around. "No problem." he turned and gave me a quick hug.

"Thank you." he whispered in my ear. I could feel in his breath that he was shaking. He pulled away from me and I reached into my pocket, pulling out two card keys.

"Your room is right behind you." I said, watching him turn around and slide the card through the automatic lock. I made sure he got into his room before I turned to my own.

I had convinced Jeb to let us all stay in one hallway and share rooms; just so everyone was more comfortable. Iggy and Fang were sharing since they were the two oldest males in the flock. Angel and the Gasman because they were the only two blood relatives. Nudge and I because, well, we were the only ones left. I was the unlucky one. Nudge wasn't a good sleeper and by that, I mean she had metal objects zooming towards her as soon as she let her guard down enough to fall asleep; therefore, she's up all night. I'd have to make sure everything metal was either confiscated or securely fastened to the wall or floor.

I let myself into the room and tossed my bag onto the small armchair sitting in the corner of the room. I collapsed onto one of the beds and closed my eyes, feeling the darkness take me over.

"Max? Max? MAX!" a voice called from above me. I opened my eyes slowly and saw dark hair falling around my face. "Are you coming to lunch or not?" The voice said impatiently as I realized that it was my lovely roomie, Nudge.

"Yeah, yeah." I mumbled, sitting up. "I'm coming." I stood up and stretched out my back, feeling it crack as I turned. I looked back over at Nudge, who had a look of disgust on her mocha-colored face.

"Ew!" she exclaimed, shuddering. "How can you crack your back like that?" she asked, horrified. She ended up going on a rant on how she can only crack her pinky toe without getting creeped out. I tuned her out after 'Like oh my gosh!'.

We walked out of the door, joining Iggy and Fang, who I assumed came to get Iggy, in the hallway.

"Have a nice nap?" Fang said as we started walking down the hallway. I looked over at him, surprised. How did he-?

"How did you know I was sleeping?" I asked, narrowing my eyes.

"I know everything. As I keep reminding you." he said, smugly. I rolled my eyes and concentrated on getting to lunch. I made sure to keep an eye on Iggy. I knew he could sometimes be sensitive about being blind but I wasn't sure how long he could joke about it.

We reached the cafe where we were going to be eating for the next two weeks in about five minutes. A good walk from our rooms considering six tired, hungry bird kids is not a very pretty sight (or sound).

I took an empty seat in between Nudge and Iggy while I grabbed a plate and put a mound of salad on it. Who said we weren't healthy?

I just sat and watched as everyone talked. As I poured ranch dressing onto my salad, I looked around. Angel and the Gasman were talking to my mom about why Ella couldn't have come. Sadly, she still had to go to school. Unlike us, she went to an actual school rather than being home-schooled.

Nudge was talking to the ship's technician or whoever he was about the engine and how the ship worked; basically all of that science-y stuff only Nudge would understand. She was so entranced in the conversation that she kept missing her mouth with her fork. To my left I saw Fang and Brigid talking. Actually, it was more like Brigid was talking and Fang was nodding his head. I listened a little harder and heard her describe everything that there was to do on the ship including swimming, games, parties, and so on. Fang honestly looked bored out of his mind.

I noticed that Iggy was starting to join in on Nudge and the ship's technician. He started to add in questions about the capabilities and what kind of fuel the ship used. I guessed he was feeling a bit better.

That left me; the only one not talking to someone but I really didn't mind. I liked when I could get my thoughts together. I sighed and reached out, grabbing a piece of garlic bread, seeing Brigid staring at it with disgust.

"Don't like garlic?" I asked, noticing she was eating regular, buttered bread. She looked up at me and smiled.

"Not since I was a little kid." she said, absentmindedly twirling her fork across her plate. "I don't know why but as soon as I hit thirteen, I've hated garlic. It's weird, I know." I nodded, agreeing. It was weird.

That's how the whole meal went, useless conversation and mindless eating; just like every other day.

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Review and please tell me how I' doing!


	3. Chapter 3

Hey. Since I finished setting up the story in the last two chapters, I figured I'd give you an actual, formal intoduction to the story. Thank you to all of you who have read and the few of you who have reviewed. Just remember to go easy on me. This is my first fanfiction so, it might not be all that good. Anyways, on with the story...

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-Chapter Three-

We all stood up to leave, ready to go back to doing nothing. "Wait! Wait! Wait!" Someone called from the doorway and I looked over at the person, seeing my mom's business associate (and best friend) John Abate. "I need to talk to you guys for a minute." he said, wheezing for breath after, what I guessed, was a long sprint up here.

I nodded at him. He had always been my favorite of all my mom's friends. "What's up Johnny?" I asked, knowing he hated when I called him that.

"Well, Maxie," he started, giving me a pointed look. "I just thought I'd let you guys know about the party that the CSM is throwing you." as soon as he said the word 'party' Nudge perked up.

"Party?" she asked, obviously getting excited. "Where? With who? When? Can we all go?" she said, keeping it to the point.

"Yes, Nudge, a party. It's going to be all over the ship but mostly in the ball room, game room, and the observation deck. The party is with everyone on the ship and it is tonight starting at eight. Yes, all of you can come."

"That is so cool!" the Gasman said, slapping Iggy a high-five as they thought about what they could do. "I am so there!"

"What are they going to have at the party?" Angel asked, curiosity brimming in her wide blue eyes. She twisted the hem of her shirt as she rocked back and forth on her heels, waiting for John's answer.

"All kinds of things sweetie." he said, looking down at her. "There will be clowns, games, food, contests, and even a magician who is also a hypnotist." he gave her a smile as her face lit up.

"A magician-hypnotist?" Fang snorted, crossing his arms over his chest. He looked over at John and raised an eyebrow, daring him to explain.

"Yes, Fang. A magician and a hypnotist." John said, rolling his eyes. "They exist you know."

"Psh, sure." Iggy said, unbelievingly. "Just like flying kids, wait-never mind." he said, grinning. The whole room burst into a round of laughter as he looked around, soaking up the attention.

"So he'll be able to, like, pull rabbits out of hats and make things disappear?" Nudge asked as soon as the laughter died down. She was beaming from head to toe.

"That's exactly what that means, Nudge." John said, smiling.

"Can he do that trick where he pulls a ton of bandanas out of his sleeve?" the Gasman asked. He pulled his hat out of his sleeve, pretending that t was much longer than it actually was. When he finished, he bowed and Iggy clapped.

"I don't know. You'll have to ask him tonight." john said, winking at us. I sighed as he walked out of the room.

"Let's go everybody!" I said, ushering the flock out of the room. "To the pool!"

Hm, what to wear, what to wear. Do I go with the formal skirt and blouse, or jeans and a nice shirt, or- wait- when have I ever cared about clothes?

I shook my head at my own rhetorical question as I pulled on my faded jeans and a t-shirt. I glanced over at Nudge, who was standing in front of the mirror in our bathroom, putting some kind of jelly stuff in her hair.

I snuck up next to her and screamed "BOO!" as I grabbed her sides and pulled her up. She screeched (almost making my eardrums burst) and turned around, wiping some of the blue goo across my nose. I went cross-eyed trying to look at it.

"Nudge?" I asked slowly, feeling it ooze down my nose. "What is this stuff?" she smiled proudly and went back to fixing her hair.

"It's just styling gel. Geez Max, relax will ya?" she said as I grabbed a towel, wiping m face clean of the goo. "You ready to go?" she asked, turning to me. I got a better view of her, seeing her wear a light pink sequined tank top and denim shorts. At least she didn't over do it this time.

"Yep." I said, leading her into the main bedroom. She went over to the door, pulling it open for me. I smiled and said "Thank you ma'am."

She grinned and said "You're welcome ma'am." we both laughed as we started to walk down the hallway to meet the rest of the flock. I looked over at Nudge, seeing her smile quietly to herself. Sometimes it felt so good to be their friend instead of their pushy leader.

"Hey Max!" Angel exclaimed from down the hallway, running to hug me. I smiled and picked her up, holding her close. I smiled as I looked at her favorite white and blue flowing off of her small frame. I patted her golden curls and grinned as I set her down. She went over to Nudge and started talking about whatever little girls talk about when they're excited.

I looked over at the rest of the flock, seeing that they didn't care to dress up as much as Angel and Nudge. The Gasman had on a green t-shirt that said 'bombs away' in blue, with wrinkled jeans. Basically his normal apparel. Iggy had gotten a little more dressed up. He had on a black dress shirt, open to reveal a light blue t-shirt and he, obviously, wore jeans. Fang wore his normal attire. Black shirt; black jeans; black shoes. Simple.

We all started to walk down the winding hallways and we finally made it to a sign that said 'CSM Sponsored Party' in bold black letters. I heard Fang mutter 'Gee, I wonder where the party is.' I stifled back a laugh as we walked into the giant ballroom.

My eyes widened to about the size if dinner plates as soon as I walked in. There were streamers and balloons everywhere and the whole room was filled with the people staying on the ship. It was unbelievable.

A dance floor marked the center of the room with a large D.J. stand standing in the center of it. The music was blaring and strobe lights were going off in every direction. Old fashioned video games lined the wall of the room, proving to be popular because, from the looks of it, all of them had people playing on them. There were rides like a carousal and the tilt-a-whorl spread out around the room. The sight was honestly breathtaking.

"Ready to have fun?" My mom called out from in front of us, practically screaming to make herself heard over the music. Nudge, Angel, and the Gasman just nodded, staring around the room, mouths agape. Angel and Nudge ran over to the carousal while the Gasman took Iggy's arm and led him over to the video games.

"How did you set this up?" I asked, calling over the music.

"CSM funding and a little help from Brigid with the decorations." she said, looking around for where Brigid had run off to. She spotted her and pointed. I laughed when I saw her fighting a losing battle against the cotton candy machine. I looked up at Fang and saw him smirking. I grinned and looked back at my mom.

"Have fun you guys." she said, backing up. "You deserve it."

As soon as she walked away, I felt a hand dragging me backwards. I obeyed it and walked out.

"A little loud, don't you think?" Fang asked as we started walking up the streamer wrapped stairs leading to the observation deck.

"Just a tad." I said, holding my fingers up, an inch away from each other. I smiled as he placed his hand on the small of my back and let me go up the top of the stairs first. I reached the edge of the deck and closed my eyes, inhaling deeply. It really was gorgeous out here.

The full moon was shining down, reflecting in the water. I felt the cook breeze float past me, pushing my hair up around my face. I couldn't help but smile.

"Glad you came?" Fang asked from behind me. I nodded and sighed, enjoying the cool night air.

I reopened my eyes and looked out over the sea. I glanced over at Fang's serene face and almost did a double take.

"Fang?" I asked, my hands shaking. "What's that? Behind you?" he slowly turned, his eyes searching every inch if the seemingly empty space.

"What's what, Max?" he asked turning back around. I felt my breath catch in my chest as I looked behind him once more. There it was, strokes of colors, blues and greens, swirling around in definite shapes. I watched as it took form. "Max!" Fang said, waving his hand in front of my face. "What are you looking at?"

"Wait, you didn't see the- never mind." I said, shaking my head. Was I truly going crazy?

"What did you see?" he asked, worry and apprehension masked brilliantly in his expression.

"Nothing." I muttered, looking down. "It was nothing." he looked as if he wanted to argue; to get a real answer out of me. He kept quiet; a smart move on his part.

"Fang! Max!" a small voice called out from the stairs. Angel was standing there, a cone-shaped party hat strapped onto her head. "Come on! The magician-hypnotist guy is going to start!" she turned and ran down the stairs, skipping a step in each stride she took.

The magician... Hm...

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So, please review with your thoughts or ideas.


	4. Chapter 4

Hey, here's one more chapter! This is where the real action starts, so, hopefully it gets better for you readers!

-Chapter Four-

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"When you open your eyes, you will be exactly like the person sitting beside you." A voice said calmly from somewhere in front of me. "Open them!" it called out again more demanding than before. I did as I was told.

I opened my eyes and a whole new world was revealed; one that was more chaotic than usual. To my left, Fang was looking at me, a wide grin on his face. I tried to smile but did not feel my lips move. He had become like me, while I was like him.

"And, like, we went to the mall with Dr. M and I wanted to buy this really cute skirt but they didn't have my size. I felt so bad. Now I have nothing to wear to that formal dinner thingy on Monday in the main Cafe place. Have you noticed how giant this ship is? It's humongous!" Iggy said, putting his hands on his hips. Wait- Iggy?! Man, I wish I had my video camera.

"Now, sleep!" the voice called out one more. I felt my eyes automatically shut and my brain shut down. What seemed like hours later, I came back to.

"Man, why do I feel like my mouth is going to fall off?" Iggy asked, feeling his jaw. If only he knew. I glanced over at Fang, watching him chuckle silently at Iggy. I felt my lips tug up and I looked back up at the stage.

"Now, for my next trick, I'll need a volunteer." the magician-hypnotist guy (or magicianotist as Nudge says) said, scanning the crowd for the right person. Hands flew up around me and I turned to see more than half the flock's hands raised high in the air. Fang and I were the only ones at our table without our arms raised high above our heads. I smirked and glanced at Angel and the Gasman's hopeful faces. Nudge was holding both her and Iggy's hand in the air. She forcefully waved his arm through the air causing a slight breeze to waft over to us.

"How about you." The 'magicianotist' said, pointing to our table. "The young lady in the pink." Nudge stood up and cheered as she skipped onto the small stage. She sat down on a small wooden stool standing in front of some speakers.

"What am I going to help you with?" She asked, beaming up at the magician.

"You, my dear, are going to be assisting me in a very, very important trick. It may be the most important." He said, leaning to talk to her. "I just need you to do everything I say."

"Sure!" she squeaked out, anticipation spewing out of her.

"Good." The magician said with an evil grin. "Now sit there and be quiet."

"Ladies and gentlemen; boys and girls! This is, regretfully, my last act and then, I shall be leaving with commotion. This young girl, Nudge is it? Will be helping me make my magic true." he said, casually walking up and down the stage, his metal-plated shoes clicking against the polished wood. "I will need complete silence for this bit of magic."

I watched carefully as he circled around Nudge, speaking to her softly. He stood behind her, whispering in her ear. A look of uneasiness came across her face and I stood up, ready to get her.

"And now without further ado, watch us disappear!" I felt my body freeze over as the magician glared up at me through small beady eyes.

"Nudge!" Iggy yelled as he sprinted up to the stage, but it was too late; it was already engulfed in flames. Iggy threw himself over the stool that Nudge had been sitting on just ten seconds earlier.

"She's gone, Max!" Angel said from besides me, tears streaming down her face. "I can't hear her! She's not coming back!"

Then, all hell broke loose. People were running from room to room, screaming of the 'kidnapping'. The fire was put out while the whole ship's residents were evacuated to the main deck, where we were told the situation. Sadly, Nudge was nowhere to be found.

"Max?" Angel said, looking up at me. "Are we going to find Nudge?"

"Oh course we are!" Gazzy answered before I could. "Don't worry, Angel. We'll get her back." my heart swelled as the Gasman wrapped his arms around his sister as she shuddered. I wanted to smile, I really did, but I couldn't. I couldn't feel happiness; I couldn't feel anger; I couldn't feel remorse; I couldn't feel sadness. I couldn't feel anything but what felt like my heart being ripped out.

"Relax, Max." Fang said from behind me. "It'll be okay. We'll find her and kick that magician's butt from here to next week, okay?" I nodded, feeling the corners of my lips pull up as I listened to him quote me.

I sighed and my nod turned into a shake. "I knew this was a bad idea."

Fang rolled his eyes and glanced down at me, placing his hands on both myshoulders.

"It'll be fine. We'll find her. Don't worry."

"I have to!" I said, my voice increasing volume with each word. I looked around, seeing some people looking at me like I was crazy (which, at the moment, I was). I looked around awkwardly, giving anyone who looked at me wrong a 'Look away before I punch you'

expression. Fang shook his head and took me by my shoulders, taking my slowly down the stairs to the lower level of the ship.

"Max, you need to calm down." he said soothingly. If I was in any other situation, I would have melted right into his arms but I needed to be on guard.

"I can't, Fang!" I exclaimed, not caring how loud I was. "It's not like we can reach into a hat and pull her out! She disappeared along with that jerk of a magician!"

"We can turn around, go to land and try to find her." he suggested, looking at my frantically.

"That's more of a risk than staying out here! We need to stay on the water. The magician guy could have taken her anywhere but he'll stay near the boat considering this is where his stuff is."

"Why would he only want Nudge? Why not the rest of us." Fang asked, his eyes staring directly down at me.

"I don't know." I admitted. I felt so guilty. How could I have let this happen? Nudge was gone and now we needed to get her back.

Fang looked down at me, a worried expression dancing through his eyes. As though he were reading my mind, he said, "You do know that we'll find her. We'll get her back no matter what." I nodded as he pulled me into his chest. I realized that his hands were gently rubbing my back as I tried to resist shaking. I felt like collapsing then and there in his arms but there were things that needed to be done.

"Why do these things always need to happen to us?" I mumbled into his shirt, not entirely sure that he had heard me. It was silent and I looked up at him. His eyebrows furrowed together as he thought for a minute.

"I think," He started, still pondering the question, "I think that if it happened to anyone else in the entire world, they wouldn't be able to handle it. They'd give up; unlike you. You strive to finish things. That's probably why were still alive and standing here right now."

"Yeah," I mumbled, leaning back out of Fang's tight grasp on me. "But one of us is missing so, I haven't finished this yet." I turned on my heel and strode up the stairs, wondering what the hell I was supposed to do. Nudge was gone. We didn't know where she was but we knew she couldn't have gone far.

I took the stairs to at a time and went up to the main deck and saw that everything had somewhat calmed down. I weaved in and out of the crowds, avoiding all of the panicking people.

"Max!" A voice called from my left and I jumped over an elderly lady in order to follow it. After receiving vicious glares from the woman, I reached the person who called me; Iggy.

"What'd I miss?" I asked, silently catching my breath. "Where's everyone else?"

"Everyone is in the café waiting for us. I came down to find you and Fang. We need to figure things out." I nodded and turned back around, scanning the crowd for Fang. I could see his dark head bobbing up and down as he came towards us.

I felt as if I were in slow motion as Fang, Iggy, and I were walking to the café. Everything passed me so quickly and yet, I was moving at an extremely slow pace. There were people all around me and yet I felt the icy feeling of loneliness circle around me, my uneasiness was easily matched by my growing paranoia. Nothing was fitting into place.

We reached the café and the tree of us became bombarded with the flock and CSM members. Apparently they had closed the area off so we could have a private discussion. The small square tables were pushed together; forming a long conference table. Many people were sitting along one side of the make-shift table including Brigid, John Abate, Jeb, my mother, and Captain Hawkins (The ship's captain).

"Please, kids, sit," My mother said hastily. I slowly walked around the table to where there were at least ten empty seats. I pulled one out and begrudgingly forced myself onto it, not wanting to sit still. I glanced down the row of chairs, seeing that the flock took their seats next to me. I took note of who we had. Fang? Check. Iggy? Check. Angel? Check. The Gasman? Check. Nudge? Nowhere to be found.

I started to get worried over two hours ago when this all began but now I was on edge. I was terrified.

I jumped at every sound and I felt more claustrophobic than ever. I could barely sit in that stiff wooden chair without feeling my fingers twitch and my palms get sweaty.

"We need to assess the situation more thoroughly." Jeb said as he adjusted his reading glasses onto his nose. When had he ever needed glasses? I asked myself. I shook my head slightly, trying to get rid of the useless thoughts. All I needed to concentrate on was getting Nudge back.

"What we _need_ to do is keep these kids safe!" my mom said, glaring at Jeb. I knew what she was trying to do but right now we needed to help Nudge; not worry about _our_ well-being.

"Valencia," Jeb said, looking up at her through his spectacles. "That is preposterous. We need to find this magician and get young Nudge back." I glanced at my mom and saw her roll her eyes and fold her arms over her chest. I inwardly smiled.

"I think he is right, Valencia." John said, taking a piece of paper out of a manila folder. I looked over at it curiously. "We need to find her and the kids are the only way to do it."

"I can turn the ship around. We'll sail back to the shore. It will only take about twelve hours." Captain Hawkins said, standing up. I immediately sprung up at the same time, holding up my hands.

"No." I said, glaring at Captain Hawkins as he lowered himself back into the chair as I lowered my hands. "We are keeping the ship right where it is. If we go back to shore it could jeopardize any chances we have of finding her."

"But Max-" My mom started but I shook my head, dismissing her.

"No, mom, listen to me. She was taken off of _this_ ship. She might still be on _this_ ship." I said, taking a step back and pushing in the chair slowly.

"She has a point." Said Logan Fletcher, a scientist who had come to ensure that nothing bad happened on this trip. He didn't do his job very well. "There still is a large chance that the magician and Nudge are hiding aboard the ship."

"Exactly." I said, nodding at Logan gratefully. He gave me a shy smile and I turned back to everyone else. "We need to search the whole ship. Every nook and cranny until we are absolutely sure that they aren't on it. Double check it. _Triple _check it! I don't care how many times you have to. Just make sure they are not here before we go out to find them."

"Max," Brigid said, speaking up for the first time since we got here. "That is silly. We can do checks while we are on our way back to the shore. It will also give us a shorter trip in case she _isn't_ on the ship and we have to go to land and get her."

"She does have a pain, Max." Fang said from next to me as he stared straight at Brigid. She smiled at him as his eyes scanned her face. I rolled my eyes and looked straight at her.

"Have you noticed that while we're in motion there is a lot more commotion?" I asked Brigid, putting her on the spot.

"Well, um, there is, um, maybe," she stuttered, eyes darting from side to side as she answered.

"That would give him a much easier time moving Nudge to a separate location if he thinks we're figuring things out." I said, pointing out something she had overlooked as if it were nothing.

"She does have a point, Fang." Iggy said, chuckling. Fang rolled his eyes and looked over at Iggy, wasting a perfectly good death glare on him. I felt a smile tug at my lips. At least I had one person supporting me. Thanks to Iggy, I had help.

"You're right." Mom said, standing up. "We need to search. We need every trained person to search for this man and Nudge.

"I have a paper on the man!" John said, holding out a folded sheet. "His name is Owen Jackson." My head snapped up once I heard that name.

"Owen Jackson?" I asked, staring at John through wide eyes. I saw Fang and Iggy doing the same out of the corner of my eyes.

"Are you kidding!?" Jeb screamed as he jumped up from the table. "You let Owen Jackson onto this ship and didn't bothering telling us!" He was outraged and for good reason.

"Jeb! Calm down!" my mom said, placing her hands onto his shoulders. "Who is he?" Jeb looked over at me and gave me an apologetic look, his eyes glazing over with uncharacteristic impassiveness.

"He was a man who worked at the School." Jeb explained, his eyes not moving away from mine. "He _worked _with Max, Iggy, and Fang. They were his top experiments. I'm actually surprised you three remember him."

"We have good memories." I growled, "That's just one of the perks of being a human-avian hybrid." I added, sarcasm dripping.

I saw Jeb flinch away from my glare as he continued. "He was thought to be dead after we escaped. He was the one I wanted them to get away from the most. Not only did he work at and run the School and other branches, he was an older experiment. The only reason he was not tortured like the other ones was because he believed in everything we were doing. He wanted to help us and he did."

I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself down. Memories flooded through my brain of the days in which I had spent with Owen. They were the worst times I had ever experienced.

"He is forty eighty nine percent human and eleven percent chameleon. He's able to blend in with any of his surroundings. I'm moderately sure that he was experimenting with himself about the possibilities of being able to not only blend himself, but other beings into their surroundings. Regretfully, he had a full training in weapon and equipment handling and in many different forms of self defense."

"So he is a threat?" Logan said, speaking up once again. Many of the other scientists nodded their heads and vigorously took notes on the matter.

"He is a huge threat."I said grimly, remembering seeing his ability in person. "No matter where he is or what he is doing, he can disappear."

"Wait!" Brigid said, springing up immediately, her eyes drifting from person to person. "If he can blend in with surroundings then he didn't actually go anywhere! Instead of transporting or simply disappearing like you were thinking, Jeb, he just took Nudge, set off a flash bomb, and blended in!"

I stared at her in disbelief. For once, I was glad that Brigid was with us. "But that would mean…" I started, looking around.

My mom looked at me and seemingly read my mind. "They're still on the ship!"

* * *

So, do you like it? Love it? Hate it? Despise it? Let me know :)


	5. Chapter 5

Hey, so here I am with another chapter...

Just to let you all know, this isn't really going to be a long story... maybe ten, eleven chapters at most. Hopefully you like it anyways.

* * *

-Chapter Five-

Panic raced through me as the whole room burst into constant chatter. Nudge was on the ship and I didn't know it. She could be anywhere and I was just sitting in a café waiting for some brilliant thought to strike, telling me where Nudge was. My gut feeling was telling me that I would be waiting awhile.

I sighed and stood up, seeing that the people who had filled the room just one minute ago were racing up and down the hallways, trying to find each other. They weren't really the brightest scientists, if you ask me.

There were only ten people left in the room; the remaining flock members, Jeb, my mom, Brigid, Captain Hawkins, and Logan Fletcher. I sighed and looked around at each one of them, daring one of them to speak.

"What now, Max?" Logan asked, gathering his papers together but his green eyes never leaving me. I looked over at him, confused. Why was he asking me? They were the adults in the room so why were they asking a kid. Maybe because this kid always has a plan, well, most of the time.

"Why are you asking me?" I asked, looking around the room awkwardly. I saw my mom shake her head as she turned to me, gently placing a hand onto my upper arm. I looked up at her, and then at Jeb, who stared at me intently.

"Max, you know Nudge better than anyone else in this world." Jeb said, standing up. "You above all others will know what she will try to do and what she is thinking." I nodded, not quite sure what he meant but I figured that it would come to me eventually.

Seeing the confused look on my face, Fang spoke up. "I think he means that you taught her what to do in any situation she gets it so you'll know what she'll do." I shot him a grateful glance for clearing things up for me. I couldn't think straight and I'm pretty sure it showed on my face. I shook my head slightly and looked down at the ashen granite table, trying to collect my thoughts.

"For right now," I said, going back to my original plan, "Just search the ship. Get every passenger into their rooms and search every inch." I took a deep breath, realizing that everything depended on me. Finding Nudge, catching Owen Jackson; it all was up to me.

"What about the ship's location?" Captain Hawkins said urgently, standing up stiffly. I looked over him as he gently brushed the non-existent dirt off of his pure white jacket and his navy blue slacks. I thought for a minute; what could we do with the ship?

"Keep it directly where it is." I said, lowering my hands to the table. "If we get to shore then it will give Owen a chance to sneak Nudge off the ship without any of us knowing. No, keep it where it is."

"But, Max," Captain Hawkins said, shaking his head. "This is a cruise ship, not a fishing vessel. We need to keep moving." I inwardly groaned. Great; one more thing that could potentially ruin things even more.

"I don't care." I growled. "We need to get her back and if that means sailing in circles then so be it." For a second, he looked taken aback but then regained his composure. He nodded and left the room in a hurry; probably rushing to steer the ship away from any land.

"Are you sure about this, Max?" My mom asked, starting to look skeptical. "Are you sure this is what we should do?" I gave her a look that hopefully said 'of course it is'. She just nodded wearily and turned to Jeb.

"We'll get every spare person we have to search." Jeb said, walking to the door with Brigid and Logan following him. As they left, I received apologetic looks from Brigid and Logan but I disregarded them. We didn't need sympathy or pity. We needed help. It took everything I had in my not to have a panic attack.

I glanced over at the flock, who were all staring up at me, curious looks taking over each of their faces. Fang stood up beside me, gently placing his hand in mine. I stiffened but then relaxed, meeting his gaze. His eyes were soft and I saw something unexpected in them. If I didn't know better, I would have that he was going to cry but since I _did_ know better, I knew that Fang wouldn't cry. He would stay strong for everyone. He knew that I needed him to keep me strong.

I tore my gaze away from Fang and looked over the remaining flock members. Iggy was gently tapping the table; each of his long, pale fingers making a small bang as he tapped harder and harder. His jaw was tight and his eyes were closed, a strained expression filling his features. His strawberry blonde hair fell over his eyes, almost covering them completely.

Angel was sitting next to the Gasman, her eyes wide and full of emotion. She was curled up into a ball on her chair; her knees pulled up against her small neck; her chin resting gently on the small indent between her knees. The Gasman stood up slowly, wrapping his arms lovingly, comfortingly around his little sister. It pulled my heart in six different directions.

Gazzy placed a protective arm around Angel as they both stood up. Angel came around to my other side, slinging her skinny arms around my waist. I patted her golden curls as she buried her face into m shirt.

Iggy stood up and stood directly in front of me, facial expressions changing from fear and pain to pure rage.

"We need her." He said simply, not caring how he sounded. I nodded and looked him directly in his blind eyes, searching for something I knew wasn't there. Hope.

"I know, Ig" I said, putting my fingers lightly onto his forearm. "I know."

"Come on, kids." My mom said from behind me. I had almost forgotten she was there. I turned my head, seeing her out of the corner if my eye. I sighed and nodded. "We need to get you five to Captain Hawkin's quarters while the ship is being searched." I nodded once again and started walking out of the room with Angel and the Gasman in front of me, Fang at my side, and Iggy and my mom trailing behind.

The walk to the captain's quarters was as uneventful as anything could ever get. I followed Jeb up to the Captain's quarters where they assumed we could be safe while the ship was searched. My thoughts were constantly being interrupted with images. Images I didn't need to see; Images I didn't want to see. I let out a low groan as they flooded through my mind.

They ranged from the flock being captured, agonized, and killed to Nudge sitting in a room alone; anxiety gnawing at her as she awaited the new forms of torture the man in the shadows had in store for her. To my great objection, the thoughts of the endless possibilities never ceased. They kept coming and each time I had to watch and endure the pain it brought me, seeing my Nudge in such distress even though it was only a vision.

We finally made it to the quarters and by then, I was rigid. My hands were shaking and I felt a thin sheen of sweat cover my forehead. I slowly walked into the room and felt all eyes on me, not wanting them there in any way, shape, or form. I tried to duck down behind Fang but he just stepped aside as he sat down on one of the miscellaneous chairs scattered around the room.

When they said 'captain's quarters' I wasn't really sure what I was expecting but I knew that this wasn't it. Realizing how nice it was, I turned and eyed the room carefully. There was a bed on the far wall with navy blue sheets and blankets piled on top of it. There was a desk against the wall, covered in papers and blueprints. Around the rest of the room, there were random tables and chairs strewn. In one corner, there was a mini-fridge with a microwave and cabinets, most likely holding food for when the Captain got hungry while working in here. Through a small hallway was a full, yet small, bathroom and a closet. Lining the walls were small port-hole windows but I refused to look through them. They reminded me too much of being underwater in the submarine just a few months back and I did _not_ want to go back to that experience.

"Max?" The Gasman asked, looking up at me curiously. "Are you okay?" He said with all sincerity. I nodded and walked further into the room, ignoring the questioning glances I was getting from Fang and some of the adults still standing in the room. I was here, but I didn't know why.

"Now," Jeb said, standing by the door, "You five stay in here. I need you to be safe while we search the ship." My head snapped up; my whole body shaking with anger.

"What!?" I all but screamed, walking closer to Jeb. "I am _not _going to just sit here and wait for you and your people to go out and find _my _flock member!" I said, raising my voice with each word said. I took one step closer to him, seething in rage.

"Yes, Max," He said, not bothering to yell considering it never had any use on me. "The last thing we need is any of you hurt or missing. We need you to stay here where you can be watched over by our armed-"

He wasn't able to finish before I interrupted. "Don't even say it!" I spat, hatred filling my eyes. "Don't say that we need to be protected by _your_ men because we don't! There is absolutely no way that your men can protect us from anything that we can't handle ourselves!"

I saw surprise in Jeb's eyes as I spoke. It was almost as if he had thought I wouldn't fight him over this decision. Well, we messed with the wrong Avian-American. "Max," He said calmly, trying, and failing, to keep me relaxed. "We don't need you guys out here searching where you might get lost or something might happen to you. You may not believe me Max, but I do care about you guys."

I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms over my chest, rolling back on my heels. I clicked my tongue and said, "Jeb, Jeb, Jeb. I thought I told you that experimenting on and torturing young children is _not_ a way to show someone you care!" His cheeks flushed as he turned four shades redder. I smirked as a vein in his temple was about to burst. It looked as though Jeb had some hidden anger management issues. Who knew?

"Maximum Ride!" He demanded, putting his foot down. No, really, he stomped his foot down as he said it; and here he thought _I_ was being immature. "You listen to me right now! You are staying here and that is final. I don't want to hear one more word out of you."

"Geez, looks like someone needs a time-out." I said, pointing to an empty corner, as if I were telling him to go sit down, facing it. He glared down at me and I tapped my foot against the floor.

"Get yourself over to that chair, sit down, and let us do our jobs!" He yelled; the anger finally spewing out of him, my job here was finished.

"I think someone should take a nap." The Gasman said from behind me, chuckling. I heard Iggy burst into laughter and Angel's high pitched giggles filled the room. Fang was chuckling slightly and Jeb, well, Jeb looked outraged. He probably expected that from me but not anyone else.

"You listen to me," He growled, mainly to the flock behind me, who were still laughing. "You will sit in here and not say another word." That did it. He could yell and scream at me all he wanted but when it came to the flock, he better keep himself in line.

"No, Jeb." I said, taking a step forwards towards him. "You listen to me. We are going out there and trying to find Nudge and if you _ever_ talk to one of the flock like that again, I will kick your butt from here to next week, got it?" I didn't wait for an answer; I strode out of the room, the flock on hot on my heels.

As soon as we were out of hearing range of everyone in the captain's room, everyone burst out laughing. I smiled and watched as Iggy doubled over, clutching his stomach, trying to say something in between fits of laughter. Angel and the Gasman were leaning, using one another to keep themselves up. Fang was, surprisingly, laughing as hard as the rest of them. I guess seeing Jeb really get angry for the first time in his life changed him just a little bit.

"Max!" Iggy said after be finally regained his composure. "That was hilarious! How did you get him so mad?"

I shrugged and said "It's easy for the great, all-mighty Maximum Ride." I grinned as he started laughing again, probably thinking of how Jeb sounded. I cracked a smile, happy to see that the flock could still manage to be so upbeat after everything that has happened.

"Come on." I said, starting to walk down the hallway, "We need to search the ship. The people Jeb sent probably missed something."

"That's a good idea," Fang said, following me. "The only problem; this cruise ship is huge. Where do we start?"

He really had me there.

* * *

Soo, do you like it? Love it? Hate it? Despise it? Let me know :)


	6. Chapter 6

Hey, Here's the next chapter!

From: BookFan22 a.k.a GwenFan22- It was so weird, when I got your review, I was in the middle of writing this chapter. You must be a mind reader or something ;)

Anyways, here's chapter six in Nudge's point of view! Hopefully this will give you some insight on what happened!

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-Chapter Six-

She awoke in an enclosed area. She opened her eyes and saw nothing but black.

Nudge felt around, in hope of finding some kind of light switch but found nothing; just the cool touch of the rough walls. She wondered where she was. Was she still on the ship? Where was Max? Were they looking for her?

Nudge shook her head. Of course they were looking for her. After all, this _was_ Max they she was talking about. Max wouldn't let anything bad happen to her, right? Of course not!

Carefully, she raised herself up off of the damp floor and looked around, her eyes not yet adjusted to the lack of light let in. Squinting, she saw a small, flashing glow. Soundlessly, Nudge maneuvered herself over to the flash, hoping for something that could figure out where she was.

A small breeze swept past her as she started tip-toeing over to the flash and she froze in place, not one muscle moving. Her eyes carefully scanned the room, looking for anything out of the ordinary (which was hard considering the only source of light was a small flash in the corner of the room) just like Max had taught her. She eyed one corner of the room suspiciously, she swore she heard a sound come from that direction.

She shook her head, her wild curls whipping her face as she gradually moved over to the flash. Then, she was there. She gently ran the tips of her fingers over the top of the object that the light was projecting off of. Nudge felt the familiar curves and crevices and recognized it as a laptop. Fang had one just like it but this seemed to be an older model. She kneeled motionless by the computer, listening for any sounds that could tell her if anyone was in the room with her. She heard nothing.

Taking a chance, Nudge cautiously raised the top of the laptop, letting the backlight spill into the room, illuminating the area around her. She quickly turned back, seeing nothing that could be a threat.

All that stood there was a wooden barrel that appeared to be empty, what looked like an old, beat up poker table, and six stools laying on the floor, battered and broken. She turned back to the laptop and watched as it continued to start up. After thirty seconds, Nudge was already starting to get impatient. She watched grumpily as 'Dell' floated across the screen once every two seconds. After the loading bar was finally filled, the login screen finally appeared. She looked at the username and all it had was six numbers; 330390.

She softly put her fingers to the screen, reading the memory, feeling the electricity flow up her arm and into her head. She waited and watched small black dots appear in the 'password' box as she read the password out of the internal machine. Once the eleventh dot appeared, the screen went black, logging into the computer.

The gray home screen came up and she waited for all of the applications to load, impatiently tapping her fingers against the track pad. She placed her palm against the screen and closed her eyes, concentrating on getting information. As she absorbed the dates and names, she grew tired but she jerked upright and ripped her hand from the monitor at the mention of one name in particular. Owen Jackson.

Nudge remembered him from the School. He had taken Max and Fang into special 'training' once or twice a week for a little over a year. She remembered how Max's eyes filled with fear every time she was dragged off to an experimentation room. Even Fang could barely stand it. Nudge remembered how Fang was _before_ he was experimented on in the ways that Owen proposed. He was happy, well, as happy as you could be when you lived in a dog crate. He smiled much, much more than he did now and it seemed like he was a totally different person…

Nudge shook her head. No. It didn't matter what he was like back then. It only mattered what he was like now. He was strong and silent and he loved Max (even though she didn't know it yet). Nudge sighed; she remembered what Max was like too. She was optimistic no matter what happened. If she got tortured, she would still smile. If she was beaten, she would laugh about it later. Now, she just resents everything about the School. It must have been horrible; whatever they had been put through.

She started to close the laptop when she felt a weight crash down onto her. She fell back, feeling the cold, wet floor through the back of her t-shirt. She looked up into the murderous eyes of her attacker and sprung up, holding her fists blindly out in front of her. She could fight well, but she wasn't sure how well she would be able to fight in the dark. Her opponent had the advantage. He actually knew where they were. She didn't know the grounds, the possible traps, or the strengths of her foe.

Nudge glanced up, seeing the face of the man she never wanted to see again, let alone fight one-on-one. Owen had one of the broken stools in his hand, using blunt force to swing it at her but she dodged easily, using her heightened agility to jump back and forth. At first she thought she was doing a good job. She wasn't tired or worn out by the constant movement but she was wrong.

Nudge took a fleeting look around the room, looking for a door to escape but Owen had used that time to his advantage. He spun the stool around, causing it to collide with Nudge's ribcage and send her flying. She hit the back wall with unanticipated force and let out a low groan as she slumped over onto the ground. She cried out as he struck her yet again but this time right over the head. She fought to stay conscious.

She looked up into the murderous eyes of her assailant as he spoke, "My, my, Nudge how you've grown." Although his voice was soft, the terrifying tone lingered. She said nothing, scared that if she opened her mouth she would scream. She just stared up at him, crouched down in the corner of the room. She shivered as a chill ran through her but put on a stoic mask. "Say something!" He demanded, leaning down in order to look her eye to eye. She clenched her teeth and stayed still, silently refusing.

"I see that young Maximum has taught you not to crack under pressure." He said, chuckling slightly at the thought. "I need one thing from you, Nudge; just one. That's it. Then you can go enjoy your messed up little life with your friends."

"I won't do _anything_ for you." She spat, internally cheering that her voice stayed strong. Owen reached down and backhanded her across the mouth. Nudge tasted blood seep into her mouth and she spit it down onto the floor.

"I won't take refusal." He said through clenched teeth. He grabbed her jaw tightly in one hand, turning her head back and forth quickly, checking for marks on her skin. He slid his rough fingers off of her skin, making it sting. "Now, you are going to help me because you are the only one who can."

Nudge looked up at him, confused. She didn't know what he was talking about but she didn't let it show. That was a weakness and she couldn't let him see. She couldn't let him know that she was scared, or confused, or tired. She needed to stay strong.

"Oh, Nudge, you remember, don't you?" Owen asked, rhetorically, pulling a black sweatshirt over his broad shoulders. "Don't you remember when you came back to the Institute? How you did something that no one else knew you did. Not even Max?"

It suddenly came to her. She knew what he wanted. He wanted the code. The code she had put on all of the information in the database when they had stormed the Institute so long ago. She felt her impassive mask fade as realization dawned.

"That's right. You _do_ remember." He said, pacing back and forth across the small room, his eyes never leaving hers. "You put a high-priority, untraceable, code on the Institute's databases, preventing them from leaking _any_ information to anyone besides you. How'd you do it, Nudge? The same way you got onto my computer over there? The same way you hacked the computers at Itex in Germany?"

All Nudge could think about was how he knew all of that. How had he known about Germany? She shook her head and muttered to herself inaudibly. She would never tell him what the code was. It was the single, most important piece of knowledge she possessed and she was going to make sure that she was the only one who _ever_ knew it. If he knew that code, she was sure he would be able to start Itex, and the different branches of the School back up in no time.

She looked up at Owen, who was pacing faster and faster each second. Stealing glances at the direction of the door every so often, Nudge began to think; _what would Max do? _The truth was that was a stupid question. Nudge knew that Max would _never_ get herself into this kind of situation. She would be fighting tooth and nail to get out and if she didn't, she would be giving off some kind of snarky remark while formulating a plan to get out of this mess. Nudge couldn't fight as well as Max. She wouldn't be able to take on a man three times her size that was also a hybrid of some sort; she just didn't know what kind of hybrid.

Glancing at the door one last time, Nudge made a decision. She had to find out where she was. It was killing her inside. She needed to escape. Waiting until Owen's back was turned she leapt up and exploded towards the metal door. She fell forwards and grabbed the handle, pulling at it violently. She felt Owen's hands grab her waist, pulling her backwards into the room but she threw open the door before it was possible.

Looking out into the light, she saw people going into a room marked '201'. Her eyes widened as Owen slapped his hand over her mouth, preventing her from screaming. They were still on the ship.

Nudge looked over at the door and she carefully inspected the side that was visible to everyone else on the ship. It was solid wood. There were no handles; no locks; no indents; no nothing; just wood. They didn't even know the door was there. They thought it was just part of the rest of the wall. She was trapped in a hidden room, isolated from anyone who could help her.

Owen grabbed her, pulling her backwards by her hair. Nudge tried to scream but no sound was produced. He dragged her back, away from the light and she thrashed back and forth as the hidden door slammed shut, keeping her in the room, away from all help.

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Soo, do you like it? Love it? Hate it? Despise it? Let me know :)


	7. Chapter 7

So sorry about the longer wait. Things have been busy.

Anyway, without any futher ado, here is chapter seven!

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-Chapter Seven-

I sighed; for once in my life I was lost without any sense of direction. I felt as though I wouldn't be able to get out of a cardboard box even if I had a GPS. Looking around, I caught sight of people entering miscellaneous rooms as they were ordered to stay bound to them while we continue searching. At least they had all of their possessions in their rooms to use. Possessions. That was it.

"Do you have any idea where Owen's room is?" I asked, mostly to Fang and Iggy. They both shook their heads, eying me curiously. I let out a groan, turning on my heel and striding down the hall. When I heard no footsteps behind me, I turned. The flock was standing at the end of the hallway, looking like lost puppies. "You guys coming or what?" I asked, starting to walk backwards; they followed.

"Where are we going?" Angel asked, jogging slowly, trying to catch up with me. I looked down at her and watched her golden locks bounce over her shoulders.

"We're going to find a room, sweetie." I said, looking around the hallways and bursting through the door to the main deck, the flock on my heels. We needed to find Owen's rooms we could search it. I rounded the corner and strode into the main ballroom.

People were standing around the room, talking quietly to each other. I stood in the entranceway, standing on my toes trying to see over the heads. If only I could find my mom or even Brigid. I just needed to find that room as soon as I possibly could. I peered over the heads as I felt the rest of the flock fill in around me. I glanced over at Fang, who was looking over the heads of the passengers surrounding us. He met my gaze and nodded, turning to look in the opposite direction I was. He knew what he was looking for.

"So, uh," Iggy said, standing jumping up and down as high as he could; his head facing the ceiling. "What are we looking for again?" I smirked as I put my hands on his shoulders, holding him down to the ground. His sightless eyes rested about two inches between mine and I saw emotions sweep across his vulnerable face.

I sighed, unable to believe I had let this happen. "Just listen for my mom, will you?" He nodded and closed his eyes, concentration masking his features. I looked away, yet again looking for my mom.

"I don't see her anywhere." Fang said, turning back over to me. I nodded, finally looking back at everybody.

"Max? Why do we need to find mom?" The Gasman asked. I smiled when I heard him call her mom. It warmed my heart that the younger kids had bonded more to my mom over the last few months. It gave them an authority figure that was actually able to do things for them. She was able to provide them with food and warmth while I couldn't. It was just a great feeling that everyone loves an adult that could help us; just like we used to love Jeb (before he went bad and everything). He had been so quiet lately; I was starting to get worried.

"We need to find Owen and in order to do that we need to find his room to search his things." I said, bending down to eye level with him. I straightened out the collar to his sweatshirt as he rolled his shoulders back. I gave him a small smile and he hesitantly returned it.

"Max," Iggy said urgently, turning around to look at me. "I hear Captain Hawkins." I stood up immediately, tapping the back of Iggy's hand twice. He knew what it meant. I shot a fleeting look at Fang and he nodded, reading my expression with ease. Eventually, I would have to figure out how he did that. I walked with Fang over to one of the far corners of the room.

We walked up behind Captain Hawkins and I tapped him on the shoulder, interrupting him listening to a very angry passenger's story. I could tell that the captain was trying to get the man back into his room but apparently it wasn't working too well. The man just kept complaining how we would never find Nudge while we're still at sea and how unsafe it was to have everyone here. I rolled my eyes as Captain Hawkins turned around. That man had no idea what he was talking about. After he tried, and failed, to re-attain the captain's attention he turned on his heel and stalked off, muttering about how rude everybody was and how he wanted his money back. Yeah, well, we _all_ wanted our money back; some more than others.

"Max, Fang," the captain greeted, nodding at each of us as he said our names with military-like distinction. "What do you need?" He asked, his eyes softening with worry once he saw our panicked expressions.

"We need to see Owen Jackson's room." I said, getting right to the point. Now was not a time for hesitation. Confusion swept over the captains face and I inwardly smiled.

"If I may ask," He started politely, sliding his hand into his pocket. "Why do you need to see his room?" I looked over at Fang, sending him a pained expression asking if I should tell the truth. He nodded. We could trust him. I took a deep breath, exhaling slowly.

"We need to search it." Fang said, beating me to the punch. I saw realization dawn on Captain Hawkin's face. "We think that it would be the best way to find out where he might have taken Nudge. It would be better than just sitting here like Jeb wants us to." He nodded, agreeing with Fang.

"You're right." He said, pulling a cigarette out of his pocket. He reached into the pocket on his navy blue jacket and took out a lighter. He cupped his fingers around the flame as he lit it carefully. I held my breath and tried not to make eye contact. He was a great guy, but sometimes he was just plain stupid. "These men don't know what they're doing and I don't have any authority over them. Jeb is sending them to every corner of the ship but they never thought to search his room. They should really let you take this over." He said sincerely. I looked up at him, seeing truth in his eyes and I felt my lips pull into a smile. Fang nodded his version of a gratuitous smile.

"Can you show us the room?" I asked, glancing back to the rest of the flock, making sure they were okay without us. Iggy had a tight hold on Angel and the Gasman, keeping them within arm's length of him. It was a good thing that he knew when to be serious. I turned back to Captain Hawkins and saw him nodding in reply. He wordlessly strode passed us, crushing the cigarette butt on an ash tray that rested on a table next to him. I glanced up at Fang, who gave me a small smile, making my heart go wild. I felt my cheeks flame up and I started walking after the captain. I didn't have to check if Fang was trailing after me; I knew he was.

Fang walked up, falling in step with me and I peeked over at him, seeing his eyes resting on me. I looked away immediately, concentrating on Captain Hawkins, who was standing with Iggy, Angel, and the Gasman. I felt Fang's hand in mine and I looked up at him, trying to hide my feelings as well as he could. He squeezed my fingers reassuringly and for a second all of his emotion showed in his eyes and I was stunned, seeing anger and worry but what stood out the most was the fear.

We reached the rest of the group- it didn't feel right saying 'the flock' without Nudge there. I loosened my grip on Fang's hand but I felt his grip tighten. I shifted my fingers so they would be taut around his and we looked over at the group. Angel's eyes weren't either one of us; they were resting on the space in between us and it took me a minute to realize it, but she was grinning wildly at our intertwined fingers. I rolled my eyes, not caring at that moment. The Gasman was talking with Iggy quietly, solemnly. I saw tears come to the Gasman's eyes. He wiped them away, trying to be brave but Iggy pulled him into a hug, comforting him like only Iggy could.

"Ready?" Captain Hawkins asked, pulling a plastic key card out of his pocket. I nodded and waited for everyone to walk in front of me. I watched as they went and followed slowly, pulling my hand from Fang's. His went automatically to his pocket as if it were on a set course while mine went to my head, pulling my messy hair out of my face.

We followed Captain Hawkins in an awkward silence until Iggy spoke up. "Somebody say something," He said, agitated beyond all belief. I opened my mouth to say something happy and optimistic that was supposed to hype everyone up but for once in my life, I couldn't say anything. "Please, somebody do something!" he pleaded, looking back at us with wide eyes. By now we had all stopped in the middle of the hallway, staring at Iggy in surprise.

"Ig," I started, wondering why he was getting like this.

"Iggy, don't worry." Angel said, interrupting my attempt at cheering him up. "We'll find her." She said her high voice soft and calm. She obviously knew something we didn't. He took a deep breath and turned around, looking at the captain and nodding for him to continue. I was really starting to get worried about him.

The captain led us through countless hallways that twisted and turned around others. We must have passed at least two hundred rooms in less than four minutes. The whole time, I concentrated all of my attention onto Iggy. I had no idea why he was acting so weird.

_He misses her, _a voice said in my head and I looked over at Angel. She was staring right up at me and I shook my head.

_Angel, what have I told you about looking into other people's minds?_ I asked rhetorically in my mind. She looked away from me, her eyes darting back and forth as if trying to deny she did anything.

I narrowed my eyes at her and she gave in, saying, _Not to do it,_ in her head I nodded triumphantly and realized what she said.

_What do you mean 'he misses her'? _I asked, thought reeling through my mind.

_He misses Nudge! _She screamed in my head. I groaned as a headache formed. _Sorry, but he really misses her. You should have heard his thoughts when he found out she was really gone. They were really scary, Max. He really, really likes her!_

I inwardly smiled. So _that_ was why he has been acting even more stressed than the rest of us since Nudge disappeared. That explained a lot. I guess Iggy really had been growing up this whole time; I was just too oblivious to notice.

"Here we are," Captain Hawkins said as he swung the door open. He held it open as Iggy strode through first, flipping in the light switch as went past it. Angel, the Gasman, and Fang walked in behind him, all dispersing to different areas of the room. The captain turned to me and smiled, holding out the key card. I took it and he said, "Don't worry about messing the place up. There's no point in keeping it clean considering that he's never coming back to this place. Just make sure that you lock the door on your way out so no one else decides to go searching." I nodded and he walked away without another word said. He was almost as bad as Fang.

"Did anyone find anything yet?" I asked, walking back into the room, closing the door on my way in. I got a few 'no's and one or two shakes of the head.

"All I know is that his bed is _much _springier than mine was." Iggy said, a disgruntled look on his face as he bounced up and down on the perfectly made bed. I smiled as the Gasman leapt onto the bed behind him. I turned to the desk, where a black suitcase lay.

I went over to it and gently pulled it open. Inside was nothing but papers. I reached in, catching all of the loose leaf in one hand and pulled it out. I laid it out, displaying it on the desk.

"What are those?" Angel asked, hopping over to me excitedly. "Ooh! Look at these, Max!" She said, holding up pages with diagrams. I grabbed it and held it closer to my face, seeing that it was all information on how to do magic tricks with ease.

"Well that explains a few things." Fang said from over my shoulder. I nodded but didn't let my eyes stray from the words scribbled across the page. I felt his arm move around me and grab a paper. He smirked as he read. Lowering the page in front of my face he said, "This explains how he could just take Nudge. After he finished this 'trick' he just grabbed Nudge and caused her to blend into the surroundings with him." I looked at the page and saw that it was a formula for smoke bombs. Owen just set one off and pretended that it was magic.

Angel, Fang, and I went through every paper and every notebook sheet by sheet as Iggy and the Gasman checked out the rest of the room. We found out _how_ Owen took her, but we still had no idea _why_. We had nearly gone through all of the papers when I cried out in frustration.

"This is impossible!" I groaned, turning the cover back onto a notebook. "None of these tell us where she is!" I guess that Owen thought about that. He probably knew that we would go searching through his belongings. He was a smart man; he never missed a detail. All those times when Fang and I had tried to get away, _he_ prevented them, knowing what we were thinking when we were thinking it.

"Wait! Max! We found something!" The Gasman called out. I turned around immediately, hoping it would get us closer to finding Nudge. Iggy turned around and held up a metal knife- only this knife didn't have a sharp blade; it had a long, flat one that was dull at the tips.

"What is that?" Angel asked, peering over her shoulder. "It looks like a knife!"

"Why don't we let Iggy answer that question." Fang said, walking briskly over to Iggy and taking the object out of his hands.

"Well," Iggy started. I guessed it was a good idea to ask the most skilled lock-pick in existence (also known as the great blind, pyromaniac, chef, bird-boy). "It is a knife, basically, but it is used _way_ differently. The dull side is used to put into crevices, like in a wall, and it pulls the wall out. It's small but really handy. I used to have one but someone, Max, confiscated it because that someone, Max, said it was too dangerous."

I rolled my eyes as Angel and the Gasman laughed at Iggy. Fang smirked as he studied the object. His long fingers gently brushed along the top and his eyes narrowed. "It would work." He said, probably figuring out all of the calculations in his head. He was literally like a human calculator.

"I like to call it a UFO." Iggy said, receiving questionable looks from everyone. When no one said anything, he continued, figuring we didn't get it, "Unidentified Flinging Object." He explained, making a flinging motion with his hand as if he were pulling some of a wall out. I chuckled and turned around.

"What would this have to do with Nudge though?" I asked, voicing my thoughts. Fang and Iggy looked at me incredulously. It was like they'd never heard someone ask a question before. Fang started to mumble incoherently as I looked over at them questioningly.

"That means," Iggy started, speaking at a _very_ slow pace, "that Nudge is hidden somewhere within the walls; in some secret room behind the wood."

_That was a new one; _I thought to myself as I stood up from the desk, stretching my legs slowly. Now all we had to do was tear the ship apart board by board to try and find her. It would be tough, and very time consuming, but it was completely necessary.

I needed a question answered; just one. Why Nudge?

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Like it? Love it? Hate it? Despise it? Tell me what you think!


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